653 Chenery Street
in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood
1-415-586-3733
[email protected]
Open to walk-in trade and browsing
Tuesday to Sunday
noon to six
Live Streams every weekend!
Refresh your browser to catch a show in progress!
Visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel!
But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
Ben Davis – cello. Darren Johnston – trumpet. Lisa Mezzacappa – acoustic bass. Larry Ochs – tenor and sopranino saxophones. $20 cover charge; byob. For a reservation, call 415-586-3733. Jazz in the Neighborhood (a 501(c)3 nonprofit funded by folks like you) has offered to subsidize this date, augmenting your $20 cover charge to help us pay the musicians a guaranteed fair wage. Larry Ochs (Rova Saxophone Quartet) unveils his latest musical collective featuring Lisa Mezzacappa, Darren Johnston & Ben Davis In the perfect environment for close listening, Larry Ochs once again brings a new ensemble to Bird & Beckett and invites you, the listeners, to join the musicians in enjoying their spontaneous but carefully sculpted music as it happens, in real time. Through repeated performances, musical discussions after shows, and rehearsals, this music slowly but confidently evolves. The audience and the performance environment matter. There’s no more perfect environment than…
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Bird & Beckett’s legacy band! Charlie McCarthy, saxophone; Sam Cady, piano; Chuck Bennett, bass; & Tony Johnson, drums continue a 23-year tradition of jazz in the bookshop! $20 suggested donation helps us pay these long-time professionals a decent guaranteed wage for the night’s work. BYOB. It’s a cheap night out, and high quality, we assure you! Teens and students: $10 is fine. Kids free
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The Good War is just out, and writer Elizabeth Costello has invited Rent Romus and Suki O’Kane to share the stage to raise funds for Romus’s most excellent Outsound New Music Summit and to celebrate Elizabeth’s debut as a novelist. Suggested donation for the event, $20 cash/venmo. BYOB. Bring your checkbook or the digital equivalent to make a donation to the Outsound New Music Summit, now under preparation for your enjoyment in July! 50% of Bird & Beckett’s profit from the sale of Elizabeth’s book (about $5 a copy) will go to Outsound. But that’s just a drop in the bucket! Your donation will make the difference! The Outsound Summit performance schedule includes music and sound ranging from free improvisation, to electronic manipulation, to noise, to sonic sculptural art reflecting genre-busting exploration and creativity. In addition, the festival promotes intermedia arts, fostering cross-pollination through film, dance and writing. The Summit…
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Hungry to hear some of Bird & Beckett’s past live streams? On the home page you can scroll down to read the individual posts for the shows we’ve mounted in the past several months, a hint of what’s gone down since the pandemic lock-down began. In more amazing times, it would take you right back to the very first show of the current period, back on March 12, 2020, but that beautiful skein is no longer quite so easily accessed. Still, the evidence is there for those who dig. The March 12, 2020 show that signaled the shift was a Thursday evening performance by New York saxophonists Jessica and Tony Jones, both alumni of the Berkeley High jazz program, with NYC bassist Stomu Takeishi and local hero Deszon X. Claiborne on drums. The quartet’s booking for the night before at the Backroom over in Berkeley had been cancelled. A few…
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David K. Mathews, piano Wayne de Silva, tenor saxophone John Wiitala, bass Akira Tana, drums $20 cover charge; byob. Reservations, call 415-586-3733 20 years with Santana after 15 years with Etta James, Dave Mathews first made his mark with three years in Tower of Power. Once he left Tower Of Power he worked on that playing with artists like Pete Escovedo, Sheila E. and Ray Obiedo. Eventually jazz became his great love, though Etta James and Carlos Santana have kept him very busy and happy indeed for decades… But he’s on break with Santana just now, and he’s having a blast re-integrating to the gigging jazz scene in San Francisco. For his Bird & Beckett date, he’s assembled a killer quartet. You don’t want to miss out on this. “Home grown Dave Mathews… he can play everything.” –Etta James “Dave K Mathews is imperative to the band because he’s got knowledge…
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You never know who might drop in. Maybe you! The Vince Lateano Trio will make you feel right at home! BYOB and a twenty for the trio.
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Luxurious guitar and exotica. Cool swing and soul with a hot trio. That’s Jinx’s jazz bag! Welcome a true apostle of the many towering gods of the jazz guitar traditions, from Freddie Green to Charlie Christian to Tal Farlow to Wes Montgomery to Barney Kessel to Joe Pass to Kenny Burrell to Grant Green to Emily Remler to Mimi Fox… byob and a twenty for the trio! Jinx Jones, guitar Kenan O’Brien, bass Ken Owen, drums $20 cover charge — cash or venmo at the door teens and students, $10 kids free for a reservation, please call the shop at 415-202-4870
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Swerve Control is a ferociously adventurous new band featuring and co-led by Darren Johnston on trumpet, Kai Lyons on guitar, Rob Ewing on bass and Dillon Vado on drums. This band is known for playing expansive and strikingly original music; their improvisational approach is inspired by the late 60’s Miles Davis groups, informed by individual group members’ experiences with Brazilian, Cuban and Balkan rhythms. Swerve Control is dynamic, playful and fearless while also playing with sincerity and a deep passion for listening to one another. $20 cover charge, cash or venmo at the door; byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733.
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Scott Foster, guitar. Luke Schwartz, guitar. $15 suggested donation, byob. teens and students, $5. kids free. Two generations, once teacher and student, now colleagues in the San Francisco jazz galaxy. Scott and Luke have developed their own unique style of duo guitar performance over several years of performing together, with an emphasis on counterpoint, conversation and texture, all the while staying true to the standard tradition. Luke Schwartz, born and raised in San Francisco, returned to the Bay Area to make his mark on the local scene after stints in New Orleans and New York. His guitar style is influenced by contemporary and old-school jazz players such as Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Jesse Van Ruller, Peter Bernstein & Kurt Rosenwinkel. His compositional style is also inspired by that of Steve Swallow, Wayne Krantz & Bud Powell. Scott Foster–Performing Arts Department Chair and Jazz Band Director at Urban School of San…
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This month, Walker considers Thich Nhat Hanh: The timeless simplicity of his teaching defies our surfaces even as it nourishes our depths. A skillful conveyer of the great lucidities: poetry, art, parable, history, myth; he was also a disciplined expositor of ancient meditative techniques. A stranger in a strange land, a voice for the voiceless, and a humble monk. Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Prize, back in 1967. He credited Nhat Hanh’s influence as one of the factors in his decision to publicly oppose the war in Vietnam. Walker Brents III’s talks, which take place most months during the academic year on a mid-month, mid-week schedule, are presented by live stream on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, which can both be accessed via the video window at the top of our website’s home page. The talks remain available and accessible after the fact on both platforms.…
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Sir Kahil El’Zabar, voice, trapset, cajon, kalimba. Corey Wilkes, trumpet. Kevin Nabors, tenor saxophone. $35 at the door, cash or venmo please! Teens and students $15; kids free byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Sir Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is touring the United States and Canada this February on its 2025 Heart & Soul tour! Catch the EHE’s 7th Black History Month appearance at Bird & Beckett since February 2017, the year that core trio mates Corey Wilkes and Alex Harding joined the Ensemble. Alex is committed to dates with the Sun Ra Arkestra this time out, but Kevin Nabors, a Chicago phenom, has joined up for the 2025 tour. The EHE’s 2025 Bird & Beckett performance will be the first of just three West Coast stops on the 2025 Heart & Soul tour–their 14th stop in 19 shows scheduled from the East Coast to…
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Idris Ackamoor, saxophone. Bobby Cobb, guitar. Heshima Mark Williams, bass. Randy Merritt, drums. $20 cover charge; byob. Cash or venmo at the door please; no plastic! For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Premiere performance of Idris Ackamoor’s new quartet, presenting new material and kicking off a series of performances by Idris in multiple configurations — his recently formed trio with Carlos Niño and Nate Mercereau (Feb 19 at the Chapel), his long-running (since 1972), internationally acclaimed touring band, the Pyramids (April 19 at The Lab), and his Ankhestra (June 15 at SFJAZZ). The Ankhestra’s debut album “Artistic Being” is soon to be released! It all started with the Pyramids in Paris and Africa, continued in San Francisco with Cultural Odyssey, his amazing, long-running collaboration with Rhodessa Jones, and continues on with the trio, quartet and Ankhestra! Don’t miss this quartet stop at Bird & Beckett! In honour of…
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Ben Stolorow, piano. Peter Barshay, bass. Vince Lateano, drums. with guest Erik Jekabson, trumpet $20 suggested donation, or what you can afford. byob. Come for a tune, or come for two sets… whatever fits your life, you don’t want to miss out on one of the great pleasures of San Francisco life and San Francisco jazz. Vince has been a mainstay in this town since he rousted out of the Army and stayed put here in the mid-1960s. He took what he’d learned in his Sacramento youth and became the go-to drummer in North Beach and all around town, especially after Johnny Markham subbed out to him when JM hit the circuit. Vince toured with Cal Tjader, Vince Guaraldi, Woody Herman and Stan Getz, was the house drummer in Jazz at Pearl’s Columbus Avenue heyday, led memorable sessions in Dogpatch, over at Pier 23 down at the 7 Mile House…
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Marina Crouse, vocals. Danny Caron, guitar. Ruth Davies, bass. Mark Lee, drums. $20 cover charge; byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. With two albums to her credit, Marina Crouse is an astonishingly talented singer in Spanish and English both, whether it’s a jazz classic, a scorching blues number, a soulful Mexican ballad or an irresistible and clever original. Blessed with a deeply expressive voice early in life, her early classical training underlies her powerful vocal delivery. She traverses a wide range of material, delivering an emotional authenticity that consistently cuts deep. “When I sing,” she says, “I feel like I break myself open and let a little piece of myself come out. I’m reaching out to people with hopes to connect on a personal level. And when we do, that to me is better than anything else.” Plus, she’s a lot of fun to hear, especially with…
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Pat Wilder, guitar and vocals Ryan Pesce, guitar Kirk Bowman, bass Thatcher Nine, drums $20 cover; byob. Blues guitarist and singer Pat Wilder brings it all back home with love for you on Valentine’s Day! Sultry blues like you love it from the likes of Etta James & Barbara Lynne. Pat Wilder was born into a family of artists. San Francisco in the sixties was the backdrop of her childhood. As a hub for the Civil Rights Movement and the home to Haight-Ashbury hippies, SF’s rich culture laid fertile ground for becoming an artist herself. “Music was in my blood,” she recalls. She danced between the piano, the congas, and the plastic guitar her mother bought her from Woolworth’s, jamming with her harpsichord-strumming, harmonica-humming grandmother. The bluesman Taj Mahal, a family friend, bequeathed Pat her first electric guitar, and taught her his “Ain’t Gwine Whistle Dixie (Anymo’).” The rest is…
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SUPPORT BIRD & BECKETT - DONATE TODAY!
Your donation to the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project helps us pay for a multitude of operating expenses necessary to present, promote and preserve local music, poetry, and more.
Help us keep the arts alive and thriving!
The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project was created in 2007 "to present, document and archive the creative work of significant living writers and musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, for a neighborhood audience and future generations," continuing the work we began when the store was established in 1999.
We continue to present a full slate of programming of live music and poetry readings, and produce a literary journal and poetry chapbooks, and we seek and welcome your continued financial support by way of donations.
Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above. Better yet, make a check out to the “Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project” and drop it off or mail it to:
Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
653 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Call us at (415) 586-3733 to find out how else you might lend your support.
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We're immensely appreciative of Jazz in the Neighborhood for having stepped in as our temporary fiscal sponsor for a few months, while we straightened out some paperwork to get nonprofit status restored to the BBCLP. We're happy to say that's been done, and all past, present, and future donations made directly to the BBCLP are fully tax-deductible!
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The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
Our events are put on under the umbrella of the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the "BBCLP"). That's how we fund our ambitious schedule of 300 or so concerts and literary events every year.
The BBCLP is a [Read More ]
The Independent Musicians Alliance
Gigging musicians! You have nothing to lose but your lack of a collective voice to achieve fair wages for your work!
The IMA can be a conduit for you, if you join in to make it work.
https://www.independentmusiciansalliance.org/
Read more here - Andy Gilbert's Feb 25 article about the IMA from KQED's site
